Hello Reader,
Thank you if you came up to me in Bangkok to say hi and exchange name cards. I'll drop a WhatsApp message soon if I haven't done so yet; feel free to beat me to it too - I promise I won't get upset.
Today, let's talk about the Thailand data centre market and the road ahead for operators in this part of the world.
Land of opportunities
As you probably surmised, I was in Bangkok earlier this week for the one-day Thailand CDC 2025. The evening before, I had the chance to talk to a wide range of ecosystem players at the pre-event networking session. It was an eye-opener in terms of the incredible mix of people in the room, from local Thai operators alongside international players.
After returning to my hotel room, I wrote about an employee at a professional services company who is in the process of setting up a Thai office to react faster to the many new opportunities in Thailand. Guess what? Someone else approached me at the conference to say he has read my note, and that his organisation is also opening an office in Thailand.
The land of smiles is currently also the land of opportunities for data centre players.
If you look at the numbers for Thailand, they do reflect the early growth trajectory that defined Johor's entry as a major player in data centres. Yet it is also dramatically different in terms of both opportunities and challenges, such as greater renewable share right now for the former, and flood-prone areas and the need to upgrade the power grid for the latter.
Can Thailand muster the needed regulatory changes, the grid investments, and execution to leapfrog ahead of other Southeast Asia countries?
Impact of government support
If there is one thing that stood out for me though, it would be how the influential Board of Investment (BOI) has been instrumental in paving the way towards the current data centre boom.
You would probably be interested in some nuggets of information shared by BOI's Tanita Sirisup in an afternoon session. Did you know that there have been 57 data centre applications since 2022, worth a combined value of US$25 billion? And that "most parts" (her exact words) of Thailand's FDI in 2025 came from data centres?
When one considers the strong push by Singapore's EDB that made Singapore a data centre hub, and Malaysia's MDEC and more recently, the Ministry of Digital, it is clear the critical role that government agencies play in terms of incentivising the right investments and accelerating deployments.
When one considers the strong push by Singapore's EDB that made Singapore a data centre hub, and Malaysia's MDEC and more recently, the Ministry of Digital, it is clear the critical role that government agencies play in terms of incentivising the right investments and accelerating deployments.
Go big or go home
Finally, a new phase of growth is happening, if you go by KKR and Singtel's seeking of S$5 billion to support a proposed acquisition of STT GDC. As I explained, Singtel Nxera can't build data centres fast enough, and wants to tap into STT GDC's sizeable portfolio of data centres across a dozen countries to speed up its plans.
Crucially, the advantage now lies with larger players, in terms of capital, footprint, and diverse knowhow. To tap into the current window of opportunity, STT GDC needs the financial firepower that Singtel Nxera could bring along to shift from deliberate organic growth to accelerated data centre buildouts.
What do you say?
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Regards,
Paul Mah
